Stopper-puller.



No. 771,345. PATENTED 001'. 4, 1904. B. M. WILGOX.

STOPPER FULLER.

APPLIU IIIIIIIIIII 0v. 2B, 1903.

WITNESSES: I fNVE/VTOR Patented October 4, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD M. WILCOX, OF TIFFIN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO .KITTIE WILOOX,

OF TIFFIN, OHIO.

STOPPER-PULLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,345, dated October4, 1904.

- Application filed November 28, 1903. Serial No. 182,959. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. WILoox, a citizen of the United States,residing at Tiflin, in the county of Seneca and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Stopper-Pullers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that type of stopper-pullers employed as apermanent attachment for the ordinary kinds of stoppers or corks.

To this end the invention has in view a simple and practical form ofstopper-puller embodying means whereby acork or stopper may be readilyextracted from abottle or jar by the employment of any convenientpointed instrumentsuch as a nail, fork, or like devicewithout injury tothe cork or stopper.

As a general object the invention contemplates the provision of a corkwith its own extracting or pulling attachment to obviate the necessityof providing an extra cork for sealing the receptacle after the originalcork has been extracted, thereby preserving a cork or equivalent stopperfor indefinite use. While accomplishing this object, the invention hasfor a special object the improved feature of providing an extractingmember which embodies means for compensating for the endwise orlongitudinal compression of the cork when forced into the neck of thebottle or other receptacle under strong pressure. This compensatingaction is intended to preserve the relative positions of the effectiveelements of the stopper-puller by preventing displacement or looseningthereof under such endwise compression of the cork.

Another important object is to provide improvedfastening or holdingmeans for the extracting member to insure secure fastening to the corkor stopper body, as well as to positively guard against the tearing ofthe cork under a pulling or extracting strain.

With these and many other objects in view, which will more readilyappear asthe nature of the inventionis better understood, the sameconsists in the-novel construction, combination, and arrangement ofparts, which will be hereinafter more readily described, illustrated,and claimed.

The essential features of the invention embodied in the means forcompensating for the longitudinal or endwise compression ofthe cork andfor fastening the extracting member in position are susceptible ofstructural modification without departing from the scope of theinvention; but a preferred construction is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view of a common cork andillustrating the extracting member applied thereto and exposing therecess or cavity for receiving the holding member or head. Fig. 2 is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing the complete stopper-puller applied tothe stopper-body or cork. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a common corkprovided with the improved puller attachment. Fig. 4 is a bottom view ofthe cork, showing the flush seating of the holding-head. Fig. 5 is adetail view of the extracting pin in the form in which it is insertedthrough the body of the cork or stopper. Fig. 6 is a detail inperspective, showing a modified form of the extracting-pin, wherein thesame is of a duplex or doubled type. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of acommon cork, showing the duplex form of extracting-pin applied thereto.

' Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

The invention is applicable to any stopper of the compressible type, butpossesses special utility as a permanent attachment for a common cork,such as shown in the drawings and designated by the numeral 1.

The device as applied to the stopper or corkbody 1 essentially comprisestwo principal members-nan1ely, the extracting member 2 and the holdingmember 3which are permanently fastened together to form the completeattachment. The member 2 may be properly termed an extracting-pin, asthe same consists of a single wire strand having a substantiallystraight shank portion 3, designed to be pierced longitudinally throughthe stopper-body and preferably centrally thereof, in order that auniform pulling or extracting strain may be exerted upon thestopper-body. At its upper end the shank portion 3 of the pin 2 islooped and twisted about the shank, as at I, to provide a pulleye 5, theupper end portion of which is exposed sufficiently at the top of thestopperbody to permit of the insertion through the eye of a pointedinstrument-such as a nail, fork, or like device when it is desired toexert a lifting pressure upon the stopper-body for extracting the same.

The lower extremity of the shank portion 3 of the extracting-pinprojects through the bottom of the cork and is designed to be bent,turned, or deflected, as at 6, to provide a hook or tongue, whichconstitutes a fastening element designed to be permanently engaged withthe holding member or head 3 in the manner and for the purpose to bepresently explained. In addition to the upper and lower terminalelements 5 and 6 thereof the shank portion 3 of the extracting-pin isprovided at an intermediate point between its ends with a lateral offsetcompensating bend or kink 7, which is deflected from the straight lineof the portions of the shank above, and below it, and hence permit suchstraight portions to draw inward toward each other when endwise orlongitudinal compression of the cork or stopper body takes place duringthe insertion thereof in the neck of the receptacle under pressure.Hence the compression described compensates for endwise compression ofthe cork or stopper body without loosening or displacing the holdingmember 3 from its seated position at the bottom of the cork. Also byreason of thus preventing the loosening or displacement of the holdingmember 3 the protective Wax coating 8, covering the bottom of the corkand the member 8, is preserved intact, whereby the function of such waxcoating may be preservednamely, that of protecting the metal parts fromthe influence of acids in the receptacle.

The holding member 3 may be permanently fastened to the lower end of theextractingpin in any suitable manner. However, the preferableconstruction is to provide the lower end of the stopper-body with arecess or cavity 8, forming a seat for the holding member and in whichthe same may be directly formed by employing metal in a moltencondition. Hence solder or other readilyfusible metal may be poureddirectly into the seat or cavity 8, as a mold, so that the same willupon cooling or solidifying be cast directly about the fastening elementor hook 6 of the pin, and thus permanently unite or fasten the two partsof the attachment together. In thus casting or molding the member 3 theseat or, cavity 8 may be protected by a coating of wax or equivalentsubstance 9.

It will also be observed in this connection that the seat provides forarranging the holding member flush within the bottom of the cork orstopper body, and this member may be properly termed a head or plate.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof-such, forinstance, as the modification suggested in Figs. 6 and 7 of thedrawings.

Referring particularly to Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, it will beobserved that this modification simply involves making the extraetingmember or pin of a duplex or doubled type. In this construction a singlewire strand is used, but is folded or doubled upon itself to providethe" separate leg or shank elements 3 provided at their lower terminalswith the deflected portions or hooks 6 for permanent engagement by themetallic holding member or head 3 and also provided intermediate theirends with the lateral offset compensating bend or kink 7, performing thesame functions as the corresponding bend or kink in a single shank-pin.In the modification just described the folding or doubling of the wirestrand produces the pull-eye 5 at the top end of the stopper or corkbody.

Having thus describedthe invention, what is claimed, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is

1. A stopper-puller comprising, in combination with a normallynon-compressed stopper-body, a holding member arranged in a fixedposition against the body, and an extracting member rigidly connectedwith the holding member and having means to compensate for endwisecompression of the body during insertion without displacement of theholding member.

2. A stopper-puller comprising, in combination with a normallynon-compressed stopper-body, a holding member arranged in a fixedposition against the body, and an extracting member extending directlythrough the body and rigidly connected at one end with the holdingmember; said extracting member having means to compensate for endwisecompression of the stopper-body during insertion without displacement ofthe holding member.

3. A stopper-puller comprising, in combination with a normallynon-compressed stopper-body, a holding member arranged in fixed positionagainst the body, and anextracting member rigidly connected with theholding member and provided with a compensating bend or kink tocompensate for an endwise compression of the stopper-body duringinsertion.

4. A stopper-puller comprising, in combination with the stopper-bodyprovided at the bottom with a cavity, an extracting member at its lowerend with a fastening element extending into the plane of the cavity,said pin being further provided between its ends with a compensatingbend or kink, and a holding member consisting of a molded metallic head5 or button located within said cavity about the fastening element ofthe pin.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWVARD M. WILOQX.

Witnesses:

' J. R. MCDOWELL,

J. S. CONRAD.

